Turning Point(22)

    The last member of the team they would be working with was Paul Martin, he looked about eighteen, tall, gangly, awkward with a shock of uncombed hair. He was thirty-four years old, single, had worked for the COZ for a year. He was an emergency doctor and a surgeon, and had worked for Doctors Without Borders for three years in Africa, and loved it. He had come to Paris to learn more about violence in the cities, which he said was much more savage than what he’d seen in Africa. Paul was full of life and very excited about everything he said. He exuded youthful zeal, energy, and idealism, and spoke as though he had just been shot out of a cannon, as he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. He sounded extremely bright and excited about the work he was doing, and what he had learned at the COZ, COGIC, and CODIS so far.

The others at the table introduced themselves and were part of the administration of the various branches that provided emergency services. They took a break after that, so people could talk to each other and get acquainted. Marie-Laure, the head of the office, explained that they would be visiting the hospitals where victims were sent in an emergency. They would also be meeting members of the government and the police. They would be speaking to the SWAT teams that handled hostage situations, and also participate in a drill for a terrorist attack. It was going to be a fascinating four weeks, without a dull moment. As the various people milled around the conference room, Tom Wylie made a beeline for Valérie Florin, and looked like he wanted to gobble her up. More than anything he seemed like an excited schoolboy, and she was visibly amused.

    “Dr. Wylie?” She had correctly guessed which one he was.

“I’d love to spend some time talking to you, maybe we could have dinner sometime.” He was hopeful and starstruck and she laughed.

“I don’t think so. But you are all invited to my apartment for dinner tomorrow night, at nine o’clock.” The time was very French and later than they were used to. “Casual, in jeans, nothing fancy. Hachis parmentier, which is one of the few things I know how to cook.” She said it to their four American counterparts and her three French colleagues, all of whom were delighted. She gave them each her address on the rue du Bac, which was fairly close to where they were staying, within walking distance, on the Left Bank.

For the rest of the day, they were barraged with pamphlets, information, statistics, newspaper and magazine articles, and several books in English. They were all exhausted by the end of the day. Marie-Laure went home to her children, and Valérie hurried off to see patients. It felt good to walk into the cold night air at seven o’clock after being cooped up all day.

“No one said there would be homework,” Tom Wylie complained, and his fellow Americans laughed at him and teased him about how he was going to chase women, if he had homework to do. But they were all looking forward to dinner at Valérie’s the next evening.

    Bill and Tom rented bikes from a Vélib’ stand to go back to the apartment, and Stephanie and Wendy took the Metro, figured it out, and chatted on the way. It had been a very interesting day, and more serious and intense than they had expected. When they got back to their building, they all went to their apartments to relax. The two men then went to a bistro down the street for dinner, and both women said they were too tired to go out. Stephanie wanted to wash her hair and call her children, and she had to stay up until midnight to do it, to catch them after school. But she reached them this time, and they talked to her for ten minutes and then handed the phone to their father. Stephanie told him all about it, and how interesting it was. He mellowed for a few minutes and told her he missed her. She missed them too after she hung up. She had some of the cheese and paté from the day before, and poured herself half a glass of wine. It felt very grown up being in Paris without her children or Andy. The Eiffel Tower was sparkling as she looked out the window, sipping her wine. She was thinking about Marie-Laure and wanted to get to know her better. And Valérie was fascinating.

Wendy was thinking about them in her room too, and she thought the men in the group were interesting also. Paul Martin was a little firebrand, and she had thought Gabriel from the public health department very intelligent and articulate. It was going to be a very interesting month, and she was glad she had come. They all were so far.



* * *



—

    The next day, they participated in a drill that had been set up for them. It was a simulated terrorist attack, using the White Plan to determine triage of the victims. A deserted school was used, with actors, to demonstrate an attack on a school and how it would be handled. And afterward, they were given a tour of Necker Hospital for children, and the care that would be administered there, and by whom.

Valérie had reenacted a hostage negotiation in the morning’s drill, and both the military and SWAT teams were on the scene, shooting blanks. It had been stressful even though they knew it wasn’t real. And Bill said afterward that they should do something similar in San Francisco. They all agreed.

At the end of the day, they went back to their apartments, and changed for the dinner at Valérie’s. Bill got them all to ride the public rental bikes to her place. It was fun. Wendy said she hadn’t ridden a bike in years, and they were all in good spirits when they got to Valérie’s apartment. They had to walk through a courtyard to get to it, and it had a lovely garden, with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Her apartment was in a wing of an old h?tel particulier, a previously private home, and was filled with interesting objects from her travels, beautiful textiles and fabrics, a canopied bed she’d had sent back to Paris from India. There were cushions on the floor and comfortable couches, with candles on all the tables. She set the dinner out as a buffet, and they helped themselves to the delicious duck and mashed potato dish with shaved black truffles on top, a big salad, and excellent wines. Gabriel and Bill engaged in a serious conversation about public health, while Tom volunteered to help Valérie in the crowded kitchen, but she quickly sent him back to the others. After his conversation with Bill, Gabriel sat down next to Stephanie, and Bill next to Wendy. Gabriel appeared to be fascinated by Stephanie and asked her endless questions about herself while sitting close to her on a loveseat that was barely big enough for both of them.